At home on the ice

When Shea Farver of Huntington Beach glides onto the ice this weekend as part of the “Disney On Ice” show at the Honda Center in Anaheim, not only will she be “putting her best foot forward,” she will have — as always — put on and laced up her left skate first.

Ever since she was old enough to put on her own skates, Farver has put the left one on first.

The bag that carried her skates was small, she said, and “I always took my right skate off first and put it in the bag first. The left one came off next, and went on top in the bag.”

Next time she went to get her skates out of the bag, the left one was on top, and was the skate she put on first.

Farver isn’t superstitious at all though, she says.

“I wouldn’t want something like that to affect my performance — it’s just a tradition.”

Farver, 18, a 2006 graduate of Ocean View High School, has been part of the “Disney/Pixar’s Monsters, Inc.” ensemble production since last September, and has traveled with the ice show to more than 20 cities across the country.

Touring has been an exciting experience, Farver said, but “it’s so nice being home.”

Now, Farver will get to skate in front of a hometown crowd — she’s heard from more than 100 of her family and friends who plan to attend one of the shows this weekend.

“I am so excited about the weekend, but a little bit nervous,” she said.

Farver has been practicing and training at Skate Zone in Huntington Beach since 1997. Skate school director Rebecca Cockburn says that Farver has always been really committed to the sport.

“She practiced every day, trained well and was very dedicated,” Cockburn said. “I’d also like to give kudos to her coaches here — Annie Lieber, Laura Gigliotti and Necia Krueger.”

Krueger has been a skate teacher since 1994, has 10 years of professional ice show experience and according to Cockburn, is the one that prepared skating films of Farver for her Disney auditions.

Farver was employed as a junior coach at Skate Zone for about a year, teaching students from ages 2 to 14.

She also starred in “Alice in Wonderland,” Skate Zone’s annual ice show, in May 2006.

And the entire staff from Skate Zone, along with about 20% of the skate school, will catch this weekend’s show, Cockburn said.

The secretaries in the office at Ocean View High School, where Farver was a clerical aide her senior year, wanted to remain nameless, but were more than willing to share their feelings about how hard she worked, and “what a doll she was.”

Assistant Principal Rod Raschke remembers, “Shea kept everyone in the office informed about what was going on with her skating. She was always talking about her practices and competitions.”

Raschke described Farver as “a great kid, very pleasant, very outgoing and very focused on skating.”

Farver’s dad, Corby Farver, said, “I’m totally excited about the show this weekend, but it’s been a little nerve-wracking letting your kid go across the country to tour.”

Maybe Dad can relax a bit.

Shea Farver has four weeks left on her tour with the Disney show, and she’s planning to take at least a year off to attend college at Cal State Long Beach.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Disney On Ice, Disney/Pixar’s Monsters Inc.

WHERE: Honda Center, 2695 East Katella Ave., Anaheim

WHEN: Thursday and Friday 7:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday at noon, 3:30 and 7:30 p.m.

COST: $15 to $60

INFO: (714) 704-2500